An enhanced medical dressing may be a sterile pad or compress that is appliable to a wound to promote healing of the wound and protect the wound from further harm. For example, an enhanced medical dressing is usually designed to be in direct contact with a wound. Dressings may be specifically designed and applied to provide a sterile, breathable, and moist environment that may reduce a risk of infection, help a wound heal more quickly, and reduce scarring.
Microorganisms may grow in extracellular polymeric aggregates known as biofilms. For example, bacterial biofilms may grow in or around a skin wound or infection. Normally, acute infections are treatable with antibiotics. But, bacteria of a wound may succeed in forming a biofilm, and subsequently the wound may become untreatable and may develop into a chronic state, since chronic biofilm-based infections may have an extreme resistance to antibiotics or other conventional antimicrobial agents, and have an extreme capacity for evading host defenses. Bacteria may use quorum sensing to coordinate biofilm formation, virulence, and antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotics, such as topical linezolid, are needed to combat antibiotic resistant infections. There is emerging evidence that linezolid inhibits bacterial quorum sensing, and therefore may be beneficial in treating established biofilms. In addition, topical antibiotic preparations assist in decreasing the formation of wound biofilm and promoting autolytic debridement. However, such antibiotics are currently available only in oral and intravenous preparations.
Accordingly, there is an established need for an enhanced medical dressing and method that interferes with quorum sensing and thus promotes wound healing.